Expansion of fiber optic based telecommunication service is being expended to greater diversity of businesses and homes. Many of these extensions of service within neighborhoods, industrial parks and business developments utilize optical fiber distribution cables laid within buried conduit. Such optical fiber distribution cables might extend from a larger fiber distribution terminal or pedestal to a smaller fiber access terminal directly adjacent the business or home to which service may be provided. From the fiber access terminal to the home or business, a fiber drop cable may connect to the home or business.
A fiber distribution terminal may be configured to receive fibers from a central office and contain a number of splitters. Each of the fibers from the central office may carry a large number of signals and the splitters separate the compound signals into individual circuits. These individual circuits are then transmitted through individual optical fibers. Each of the fibers from the main office may enter one of the splitters in the fiber distribution terminal and the splitter may direct each of these signals into up to thirty-two fibers. A typical fiber distribution terminal may be configured to support from 100 fibers up to 1500 fibers. The smaller fiber access terminals may more typically house up to 8 or 12 fibers. The fiber distribution cables between the fiber distribution terminal and the fiber access terminal may have these eight to twelve fibers bundled together in a single multi-strand cable. Within the fiber access terminal, these multiple strands are broken out of the multistrand cable so that each fiber may be directed to an individual customer.
Currently, when fiber optic cables are extended from a fiber distribution terminal to a fiber access terminal, a variety of techniques are available for pulling and/or pushing the cable through the conduit. However, such cables must then be terminated and connectorized at the fiber access terminal. Termination and connectorizing is preferable performed in an environmentally stable and protected environment, such as a factory. Contamination of the fiber, the fiber end face or the junctions between fibers can degrade or inhibit communication with the customer.
Improvements to current fiber distribution cables and fiber access terminals are desirable.